Means for forming underground footings for piles and caissons.



K E. BIGNELL.

MEANS FOR FORMING UNDERGROUND FOOTINGS FOR PILESl AND CAISSONS.

APPLICATION BILBD AUG. 26

wmtoi umm Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

Unire-:ii srl-iras FFICE.

EDWARD BIGNELL, OF LINCOLN', NEBRASKA.

Specification of Let-ters Patent.

Patented Jan. 13, 1914.

application led August 26, 1912. Serial No. 716,968.

Be it known-'that I, Eiiii'lii'iii" Biennial, a citizen of the 'United States, residing at Lincoln, in the county of Lancaster and AState of Nebraska, have invented certain new and' useful Improvements in Means for Forming',r Underground Footings for Piles and Ca1ssons,oi which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for form;Y ing underground seats or foundations forpiers, caissons and piling generally.V

'heije piles, caissons 4or piers are sunk to a depth insutiicient to reach a solid foundation, it is obvious that the formation of concrete or cement foundations below their ported would be anV advantage-1" W'hi erthe-p'ifaetic'e of this invention would be useful to form foundations for piers,

lsheet, piling` caissons or concrete piles genei'ally, it `ispartieularl-y adapted for and is illustrated and described i'n connection with 'U. S. Letters Patent No..1,026,144, for con crete piling, issued to Edw ard BignellyMay The invention eousists of the novel construction,combination and arrangement of parts as described herein and claimed, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, whereinfV Figure l is a side elevation of a concrete pile., the view'being partly broken and in section. Fig. 2 is a view similar to that shown in Fig. 1, the pipe for conducting water and the nozzle being removed, and the parts arranged for the use of 'compressed air. Fig. 3 is a view, on a reduced scale, of the saaie piling illustrated in Figs. l and 2, a piston being shown as a means for pressing the cement or concrete, to cause it t move belowtlie pile.

Referring now to the draiwing for a more particular description, numeral I4 indicates the. body of a concrete pile, having any desired length, width or thickness, and formed with a longitudinal aperture 5, o ening upon its top and bottom, and at Gisin icated a housing-tube or interior lining for aperture 5. A condueting-pipe 7 may be dis. posed in tube 6, said ipe 7 having, at its upper end, a supply pipe 24, its lower end being provided with a nozzle 8 having a threaded connection a with collar D, said collar being embedded in and cireuiiisc-.ribed by the concrete body of the pile. The loitf:

end of vthe conducting-pipe 7 has a threaded connection b with the boss or rim cof the nozzle, the threads of said vnozzle being inclined ieveisely to the threads of the condacting-pipe'. ,Atf l0 are indicated numerous, transverse perfora-tions or discharge apertures'opemng upon the surface the pile and communicating with the longitudin'al aperture 5; and the water, under .pressure may be discharged within aperture t n-ough a supply pipe 11, andthe water, thus under pressure, will iin-ally be` discharged through pei'foi'ations 10. In -praetiee, any desired number of apertures y pipes 'T and nozzles S may be employed,

and the pile or caisson provided with the Aparts mentioned, may be sunk into the ground iwithout the use of a pile driver,

since the water, under pressure, which is discharged through the nozzle, will remove the groundat and below the bottoni of the pile, and the'ivater whieh passes through pertoratioiis yl() will remove the ground and adhesions at the sides ot' said pile.

The. parts thus explained are fully described and claimed in the Letters Patent. above referred to, and are now mentioned simply tor convenience, lso that the present invention may be clearly described.

lo provide the cement or concrete foundation, support or barrier 1) below the bottom, of the pile 1-, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3,

after the. pile has been sunk, certain means are employed to now be d iscribed.

At 13 (Fig. 2,) is indicated a screw-cap adapted to be threaded upon the upper end Fpt sleeve 1l, this sleeve projeeting above thel upper terminal ot' the concluding-pipe, said 'terminal thereby forming an anuular'ledge. 2l open/ing upon aperture 5, below supply- 4pipe 1S), An yannular recess 22 is formed -to open Iupon the upper end of the pile, and the threaded wall ot the cap may fbe disposed therein for its mounting upon the sleeve.

.it l5 are. indiealed reinforcing strips einbedded within and disposed longitudinali-y of the. pile. 'lliey are preferably ot metal; and their lower terminals may be provided concretege-lenient or other similar(material beiiig ,teiii'porarily removed for this purpose; and after cap 13 has been Amounted upon sleeve 14, a force off steam, compressed air or Iother expansion element'iiybe Tap-f pliedLt-he saine being discharged within the upper'A end of thepile fthr'ougli supply-.pipe 19, thecoiicrete or mixture, by reason of. the pressurethus provided, being moved down- Y 'wardlyfthriigh'faperture 1S to'y form the foundationv 12, and members 17, if they are flexible, will be carried with the Imaterial or, mixture, so that parts' of thesejmembers wi-ll be dispos below thef-pile t0 form apart ofthe foundation. "As soon as the concrete 'material or lmixture becomes hardened, the foundationwill prevent the pile from settling and will operate'asa holdingimeans to revent any lateralmovenient ol the pile. zlembers lt'and 17 `will be invested by the concreteinaterial and will be operative to firmly connect the pile with the foundation. Aperture 18 provides the discharge port, and when thel conci-'ete or cement passesv ;therethi-ough, itwill move in directions of least resistance, aiid therefore it will gen orally form ii walltois'urrouiid the pile as well as to-,forni a seat below it, ',lhe etl'ect cf 4the foi-,ced movement of the mixture as describedfvillalso cause apertures 10 to be' filled, u iid ii'gpractice after the foundation 1 2 has been" formed, theaperture 5 may be,' and generally is, filled tof oini a solid pile.

Insteadlof employing air or steam vto provide a required pressure for causing the foundationfto r be` formed, anyv other suitable means' maybe used, as the piston 20, shown in Fi 1?.A this arrangement, the mixture may ge deposited iii the upper end of longi` tudinal aperture 5, and after thev piston 20-is.

through the discharge port 18, and will be deposited below the pile to form the desired concrete seat or foundation.

While I liaiedesci'ibed my invention in connection with concrete piles, I do not employed with equal advantage in forming seats or foundations for sheetpiling, caissons or similar structures.

lhe housingr or lining (3 may be dispensed with if desired; however it is desirable as a bearing ior slet-Ive 1l, and provides a cylin-- .der iu which pistou 2() may work, when said piston is employedfn o I It will be understood that theterms rement and coiicrete?"- used be. iuoved through the discharge port-118 by foundation-12, isiii'eant any desired plastic mixture of water, gravel or' crushed rock, with sand and'cementmay be employed, but efcourse tlieseingredieiits 'and their proportions maybe changed', and any i'nixture may dened to forni a rigid footing'or support for the pile or caisson.

Having -fully described my invention,.-

lateiit' is,4-

combination with a-body portion having a' centrally arranged bore, a sleeve located in said bore and terminating shortv of the top of said body portion, a collar surrounding mounted upon said collar, the upper en within said 'boreand reinforcing members suspended from said ledge, said reiuforc= ing members being sutliciei'itly flexible to permit of their being carried through said' for applying pressure to such ceuieiititious material to cause it'to travel' through said bore..v f' "Iii testimony vheveof'.[' `liave allixedx my signature iii` pie sence of two4 witnesses. EDlVARD'B-,IGNELLf Wit-nesses W. G. s. 006k, f

insertedandfactuated, the mixture will move .f-

sa-pressureelement to fo rm the footingl or "what I' claim and desire to secure by Letters-v ln a device of the character described, the

the upper end `of said'A sleeve, a "ca'i'LA limit myself in this respect, and it maybe herein, describing the filler or-'mixture `whichfis1to mass or mixture, one ingredient of `which" .should lie-hydraulic cement.` The ordinary be, used which is plastic at the time it is moved, and whichl afterward becomes 'liar.

of saidsleeve forming an vinternabledge' bore with a ccinentitius material aiidinean's 

